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The Queen of the 著作権侵害者 小島

by

Bret Harte

I first knew her as the Queen of the 著作権侵害者 小島. To the best of my recollection she had no reasonable 権利 to that 肩書を与える. She was only nine years old, inclined to plumpness and good humor, deprecated 暴力／激しさ, and had never been to sea. Need it be 追加するd that she did NOT live in an island and that her 指名する was Polly?

Perhaps I せねばならない explain that she had already known other experiences of a 純粋に imaginative character. Part of her 存在 had been passed as a Beggar Child,—単独で 示すd by a shawl tightly 倍のd 一連の会議、交渉／完成する her shoulders, and 冷気／寒がらせるs; as a Schoolmistress, unnecessarily 厳しい; as a Preacher, singularly personal in his 発言／述べるs, and once, after reading one of Cooper's novels, as an Indian Maiden. This was, I believe, the only instance when she had borrowed from another's fiction. Most of the characters that she assumed for days and いつかs weeks at a time were 純粋に 初めの in conception; some so much so as to be vague to the general understanding. I remember that her personation of a 確かな Mrs. Smith, whose individuality was supposed to be 十分に 代表するd by a sunbonnet worn wrong 味方する before and a 週刊誌 新規加入 to her family, was never perfectly 高く評価する／（相場などが）上がるd by her own circle although she lived the character for a month. Another 創造 known as "The Proud Lady"—a 存在 whose 過度の and 不当な haughtiness was so pronounced as to give her features the 表現 of extreme nausea—原因（となる）d her mother so much alarm that it had to be abandoned. This was easily 影響d. The Proud Lady was understood to have died. Indeed, most of Polly's impersonations were got rid of in this way, although it by no means 妨げるd their その後の reappearance. "I thought Mrs. Smith was dead," remonstrated her mother at the posthumous 外見 of that lady with a new 幼児. "She was buried alive and kem to!" said Polly with a melancholy 空気／公表する. Fortunately, the 代表 of a resuscitated person 要求するd such 驚くべき／特命の／臨時の 事実上の／代理, and was, through some 不確定 of conception, so closely 連合した in facial 表現 to the Proud Lady, that Mrs. Smith was resuscitated only for a day.

The origin of the 肩書を与える of the Queen of the 著作権侵害者 小島 may be 簡潔に 明言する／公表するd as follows:—

An hour after 昼食, one day, Polly, Hickory 追跡（する）, her cousin, and 病弱な 物陰／風下, a Chinese page, were crossing the nursery 床に打ち倒す in a Chinese junk. The sea was 静める and the sky cloudless. Any change in the 天候 was as 予期しない as it is in 調書をとる／予約するs. Suddenly a West Indian ハリケーン, 純粋に 地元の in character and unfelt anywhere else, struck Master Hickory and threw him overboard, whence, wildly swimming for his life and carrying Polly on his 支援する, he 結局 reached a 砂漠 Island in the closet. Here the 救助（する）d party put up a テント made of a （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する-cloth providentially snatched from the 激怒（する）ing 大波s, and, from two o'clock until four, passed six weeks on the island, supported only by a piece of candle, a box of matches, and two peppermint lozenges. It was at this time that it became necessary to account for Polly's 存在 の中で them, and this was only 影響d by an alarming sacrifice of their morality; Hickory and 病弱な 物陰／風下 即時に became PIRATES, and at once elected Polly as their Queen. The 王室の 義務s, which seemed to be 純粋に maternal, consisted in putting the 著作権侵害者s to bed after a day of rapine and 流血／虐殺, and in feeding them with licorice water through a quill in a small 瓶／封じ込める. 限られた／立憲的な as her 機能（する）／行事s were, Polly 成し遂げるd them with inimitable gravity and unquestioned 誠実. Even when her companions いつかs hesitated from actual hunger or 疲労，（軍の）雑役 and forgot their 有罪の part, she never 滞るd. It was her real 存在; her other life of 存在 washed, dressed, and put to bed at 確かな hours by her mother was the ILLUSION.

疑問 and 懐疑心 （機の）カム at last,—and （機の）カム from 病弱な 物陰／風下! 病弱な 物陰／風下 of all creatures! 病弱な 物陰／風下, whose silent, stolid, mechanical 業績／成果 of a 著作権侵害者's 義務s—a perfect imitation like all his 世帯 work—had been their one delight and fascination!

It was just after the exciting 逮捕（する） of a merchantman, with the 無差別の 虐殺（する） of all on board,—a spectacle on which the 一連の会議、交渉／完成する blue 注目する，もくろむs of the plump Polly had gazed with 王室の and maternal 寛容,—and they were burying the booty, two tablespoons and a thimble, in the corner of the closet, when 病弱な 物陰／風下 stolidly rose.

"Melican boy pleenty foolee! Melican boy no Pilat!" said the little Chinaman, 代用品，人ing "l's" for "r's" after his usual fashion.

"Wotcher say?" said Hickory, reddening with sudden 混乱.

"Melican boy's papa heap lickee him—s'提起する／ポーズをとる him leal Pilat," continued 病弱な 物陰／風下 doggedly. "Melican boy Pilat INSIDE housee. Chinee boy Pilat OUTSIDE housee. First chop Pilat."

Staggered by this humiliating 声明, Hickory 回復するd himself in character. "Ah! 売春婦!" he shrieked, dancing wildly on one 脚, "反乱（を起こす） and Splordinashun! 'Way with him to the yard-arm."

"Yald-alm—heap foolee! Alee same 着せる／賦与するs-horse for washee washee."

It was here necessary for the 著作権侵害者 Queen to 主張する her 当局, which, as I have before 明言する／公表するd, was somewhat confusingly maternal.

"Go to bed 即時に without your supper," she said 本気で. "Really, I never saw such bad 著作権侵害者s. Say your 祈りs, and see that you're up 早期に to church tomorrow."

It should be explained that in deference to Polly's proficiency as a preacher, and probably as a 救済 to their uneasy 良心s, Divine Service had always been held on the Island. But 病弱な 物陰／風下 continued:—

"Me no shabbee Pilat INSIDE housee; me shabbee Pilat OUTSIDE housee. S'提起する／ポーズをとる you lun away longside Chinee boy—Chinee boy make you Pilat."

Hickory softly scratched his 脚; while a 幅の広い, bashful smile almost の近くにd his small 注目する，もくろむs. "Wot?" he asked.

"Mebbe you too flightened to lun away. Melican boy's papa heap lickee."

This last 悪名高い suggestion 解雇する／砲火／射撃d the corsair's 血. "Dy'ar think we daresen't?" said Hickory 猛烈に, but with an uneasy ちらりと見ること at Polly. "I'll show yer to-morrow."

The 入り口 of Polly's mother at this moment put an end to Polly's 当局 and 分散させるd the 著作権侵害者 禁止（する）d, but left 病弱な 物陰／風下's 提案 and Hickory's 無分別な 受託 （犯罪の）一味ing in the ears of the 著作権侵害者 Queen. That evening she was 異常に silent. She would have taken Bridget, her nurse, into her 信用／信任, but this would have 伴う／関わるd a long explanation of her own feelings, from which, like all imaginative children, she shrank. She, however, made 準備 for the 提案するd flight by settling in her mind which of her two dolls she would take. A 木造の creature with 平易な-going 膝s and movable hair seemed to be more fit for hard service and any 無差別の scalping that might turn up hereafter. At supper, she timidly asked a question of Bridget. "Did ye ever hear the loikes uv that, ma'am?" said the Irish handmaid with affectionate pride. "Shure the darlint's 長，率いる is filled noight and day with 古代の history. She's after asking me now if Queens ever run away!" To Polly's remorseful 混乱 here her good father, 平等に proud of her precocious 利益／興味 and his own knowledge, at once 干渉するd with an unintelligible account of the abdication of さまざまな queens in history until Polly's 長，率いる ached again. 井戸／弁護士席 meant as it was, it only settled in the child's mind that she must keep the awful secret to herself and that no one could understand her.

The eventful day 夜明けd without any unusual 調印する of importance. It was one of the cloudless summer days of the Californian 山のふもとの丘s, 有望な, 乾燥した，日照りの, and, as the morning 前進するd, hot in the white 日光. The actual, prosaic house in which the 著作権侵害者s 明らかに lived was a mile from a 採掘 解決／入植地 on a beautiful 山の尾根 of pine 支持を得ようと努めるd sloping gently に向かって a valley on the one 味方する, and on the other 落ちるing 突然の into a dark 深い olive 湾 of pine-trees, 激しく揺するs, and patches of red 国／地域. Beautiful as the slope was, looking over to the distant snow 頂点（に達する）s which seemed to be in another world than theirs, the children 設立する a greater attraction in the fascinating depths of a mysterious 湾, or canyon, as it was called, whose very 指名する filled their ears with a weird music. To creep to the 辛勝する／優位 of the cliff, to sit upon the brown 支店s of some fallen pine, and, putting aside the 乾燥した，日照りのd tassels, to look 負かす／撃墜する upon the 支援するs of wheeling 強硬派s that seemed to hang in 中央の-空気／公表する was a never-failing delight. Here Polly would try to trace the winding red 略章 of road that was continually losing itself の中で the dense pines of the opposite mountains; here she would listen to the far-off 一打／打撃s of a woodman's axe, or the 動揺させる of some 激しい wagon, miles away, crossing the pebbles of a 乾燥した，日照りのd-up watercourse. Here, too, the 勝つ／広く一帯に広がるing colors of the mountains, red and white and green, most showed themselves. There were no frowning 激しく揺するs to depress the children's fancy, but everywhere along the 山の尾根 pure white quartz 明らかにするd itself through the red earth like smiling teeth; the very pebbles they played with were streaked with 向こうずねing mica like bits of looking-glass. The distance was always green and summer-like, but the color they most loved, and which was most familiar to them, was the dark red of the ground beneath their feet everywhere. It showed itself in the 道端 bushes; its red dust pervaded the leaves of the overhanging laurel; it colored their shoes and pinafores; I am afraid it was often seen in Indian-like patches on their 直面するs and 手渡すs. That it may have often given a sanguinary トン to their fancies I have every 推論する／理由 to believe.

It was on this 山の尾根 that the three children gathered at ten o'clock that morning. An earlier flight had been impossible on account of 病弱な 物陰／風下 存在 強いるd to 成し遂げる his 正規の／正選手 義務 of 黒人／ボイコットing the shoes of Polly and Hickory before breakfast,—a menial 行為／法令／行動する which in the pure 共和国 of childhood was never thought inconsistent with the loftiest piratical ambition. On the 山の尾根 they met one "Patsey," the son of a neighbor, sun-燃やすd, 幅の広い- brimmed hatted, 現行犯で, like themselves. As there were afterwards some 疑問s 表明するd whether he joined the 著作権侵害者s of his own 解放する／自由な will, or was 逮捕（する）d by them, I 努力する to give the colloquy 正確に／まさに as it occurred:—

Patsey: "Hallo, fellers."

The 著作権侵害者s: "Hello!"

Patsey: "Goin' to 追跡（する） 妨げる／法廷，弁護士業s? Dad seed a lot o' 跡をつけるs at sun-up."

The 著作権侵害者s (hesitating): "No—o—"

Patsey: "I am; know where I 肉親，親類 get a six-shooter?"

The 著作権侵害者s (almost ready to abandon piracy for 耐える-追跡（する）ing, but 保存するing their dignity): "Can't! We've runn'd away for real 著作権侵害者s."

Patsey: "Not for good!"

The Queen (interposing with sad dignity and real 涙／ほころびs in her 一連の会議、交渉／完成する blue 注目する，もくろむs): "Yes!" (slowly and shaking her 長，率いる). "Can't go 支援する again. Never! Never! Never! The—the—注目する，もくろむ is cast!"

Patsey (bursting with excitement): "No-o! Sho'o! Wanter know."

The 著作権侵害者s (a little 脅すd themselves, but tremulous with gratified vanity): "The Perleese is on our 跡をつける!"

Patsey: "Lemme go with yer!"

Hickory: "Wot'll yer giv?"

Patsey: "ピストル and er bananer."

Hickory (with judicious prudence): "Let's see 'em."

Patsey was off like a 発射; his 明らかにする little red feet trembling under him. In a few minutes he returned with an old-fashioned revolver known as one of "Allen's pepper-boxes" and a large 白人指導者べったりの東洋人. He was at once 入会させるd, and the 白人指導者べったりの東洋人 eaten.

As yet they had 解決するd on no 限定された nefarious 計画（する）. Hickory, looking 負かす／撃墜する at Patsey's 明らかにする feet, 即時に took off his own shoes. This bold 行為／法令／行動する sent a thrill through his companions. 病弱な 物陰／風下 took off his cloth leggings, Polly 除去するd her shoes and stockings, but, with 王室の foresight, tied them up in her handkerchief. The last link between them and civilization was broken.

"Let's go to the Slumgullion."

"Slumgullion" was the 指名する given by the 鉱夫s to a 確かな soft, half-liquid mud, formed of the water and finely 砕くd earth that was carried off by the sluice-boxes during gold-washing, and 結局 collected in a 幅の広い pool or lagoon before the 出口. There was a pool of this 肉親，親類d a ４半期/4分の1 of a mile away, where there were "diggings" worked by Patsey's father, and thither they proceeded along the 山の尾根 in 選び出す／独身 とじ込み／提出する. When it was reached they solemnly began to wade in its viscid paint-like shallows. かもしれない its unctuousness was pleasant to the touch; かもしれない there was a fascination in the fact that their parents had forbidden them to go 近づく it, but probably the 主要な／長／主犯 反対する of this 業績／成果 was to produce a 厚い 塗装 of mud on the feet and ankles, which, when 乾燥した，日照りのd in the sun, was supposed to harden the 肌 and （判決などを）下す their shoes superfluous. It was also felt to be the first real step に向かって independence; they looked 負かす／撃墜する at their ensanguined extremities and 認めるd the impossibility of their ever again crossing (unwashed) the family threshold.

Then they again hesitated. There was a manifest need of some 井戸／弁護士席-defined piratical 目的. The last 行為／法令／行動する was 無謀な and irretrievable, but it was vague. They gazed at each other. There was a stolid look of 辞職するd and superior 寛容 in 病弱な 物陰／風下's 注目する，もくろむs.

Polly's ちらりと見ること wandered 負かす／撃墜する the 味方する of the slope to the distant little tunnels or 開始s made by the 鉱夫s who were at work in the bowels of the mountain. "I'd like to go into one of them funny 穴を開けるs," she said to herself, half aloud.

病弱な 物陰／風下 suddenly began to blink his 注目する，もくろむs with unwonted excitement. "Catchee tunnel—heap gold," he said quickly. "When manee come outside to catchee dinner—Pilats go inside catchee tunnel! Shabbee! Pilats catchee gold allee samee Melican man!"

"And take perseshiun," said Hickory.

"And hoist the 著作権侵害者 旗," said Patsey.

"And build a 解雇する／砲火／射撃, and cook, and have a family," said Polly.

The idea was fascinating to the point of 存在 irresistible. The 注目する，もくろむs of the four children became rounder and rounder. They 掴むd each other's 手渡すs and swung them backwards and 今後s, occasionally 解除するing their 脚s in a solemn rhythmic movement known only to childhood.

"It's orful far off!" said Patsey with a sudden look of dark importance. "Pap says it's 解放する／自由な miles on the road. Take all day ter get there."

The 有望な 直面するs were 曇った.

"いっそう少なく go 負かす／撃墜する er slide!" said Hickory boldly.

They approached the 辛勝する／優位 of the cliff. The "slide" was 簡単に a sharp incline zigzagging 負かす／撃墜する the 味方する of the mountain used for 事情に応じて変わる goods and 準備／条項s from the 首脳会議 to the tunnel-men at the different 開始s below. The continual traffic had 徐々に worn a shallow gully half filled with earth and gravel into the 直面する of the mountain which checked the 勢い of the goods in their downward passage, but afforded no foothold for a 歩行者. No one had ever been known to descend a slide. That feat was evidently reserved for the 著作権侵害者 禁止（する）d. They approached the 辛勝する／優位 of the slide, 手渡す in 手渡す, hesitated, and the next moment disappeared.

Five minutes later the tunnel-men of the Excelsior 地雷, a mile below, taking their 昼食 on the rude 壇・綱領・公約 of 破片 before their tunnel, were suddenly driven to 避難所 in the tunnel from an 明らかな rain of 石／投石するs, and 激しく揺するs, and pebbles, from the cliffs above. Looking up, they were startled at seeing four 一連の会議、交渉／完成する 反対するs 回転するing and bounding in the dust of the slide, which 結局 解決するd themselves into three boys and a girl. For a moment the good men held their breath in helpless terror. Twice one of the children had struck the outer 辛勝する／優位 of the bank, and 追い出すd 石／投石するs that 発射 a thousand feet 負かす／撃墜する into the dizzy depths of the valley; and now one of them, the girl, had 現実に rolled out of the slide and was hanging over the chasm supported only by a clump of chamisal to which she clung!

"Hang on by your eyelids, sis! but don't 動かす, for Heaven's sake!" shouted one of the men, as two others started on a hopeless ascent of the cliff above them.

But a light childish laugh from the 粘着するing little 人物／姿／数字 seemed to mock them! Then two small 長，率いるs appeared at the 辛勝する／優位 of the slide; then a diminutive 人物／姿／数字, whose feet were 明らかに held by some invisible companion, was 押すd over the brink and stretched its tiny 武器 に向かって the girl. But in vain, the distance was too 広大な／多数の／重要な. Another laugh of 激しい youthful enjoyment followed the 失敗, and a new insecurity was 追加するd to the 状況／情勢 by the unsteady 手渡すs and shoulders of the relieving party, who were 明らかに shaking with laughter. Then the 延長するd 人物／姿／数字 was seen to detach what looked like a small 黒人／ボイコット rope from its shoulders and throw it to the girl. There was another little giggle. The 直面するs of the men below paled in terror. Then Polly,— for it was she,—hanging to the long pigtail of 病弱な 物陰／風下, was drawn with fits of laughter 支援する in safety to the slide. Their childish treble of 評価 was answered by a （犯罪の）一味ing 元気づける from below.

"Darned ef I ever want to 削減（する） off a Chinaman's pigtail again, boys," said one of the tunnel-men as he went 支援する to dinner.

合間 the children had reached the goal and stood before the 開始 of one of the tunnels. Then these four heroes who had looked with cheerful levity on the deadly 危険，危なくする of their 降下／家系 became suddenly 脅すd at the mysterious 不明瞭 of the cavern and turned pale at its threshold.

"Mebbee a wicked Joss backside 穴を開ける, he catchee Pilats," said 病弱な 物陰／風下 厳粛に.

Hickory began to whimper, Patsey drew 支援する, Polly alone stood her ground, albeit with a trembling lip.

"Let's say our 祈りs and 脅す it away," she said stoutly.

"No! no!" said 病弱な 物陰／風下, with a sudden alarm. "No 脅す Spillits! You waitee! Chinee boy he talkee Spillit not to 脅す you."*

* The Chinese pray devoutly to the Evil Spirits NOT to 負傷させる them.

Tucking his 手渡すs under his blue blouse, 病弱な 物陰／風下 suddenly produced from some mysterious 休会 of his 着せる／賦与するing a 量 of red paper slips which he scattered at the 入り口 of the cavern. Then 製図／抽選 from the same inexhaustible receptacle 確かな squibs or 花火s, he let them off and threw them into the 開始. There they went off with a slight fizz and splutter, a momentary glittering of small points in the 不明瞭, and a strong smell of gunpowder. Polly gazed at the spectacle with undisguised awe and fascination. Hickory and Patsey breathed hard with satisfaction: it was beyond their wildest dreams of mystery and romance. Even 病弱な 物陰／風下 appeared transfigured into a superior 存在 by the potency of his own （一定の）期間s. But an unaccountable 騒動 of some 肉親，親類d in the 薄暗い 内部の of the tunnel quickly drew the 血 from their blanched cheeks again. It was a sound like coughing, followed by something like an 誓い.

"He's made the Evil Spirit orful sick," said Hickory in a loud whisper.

A slight laugh, that to the children seemed demoniacal, followed.

"See!" said 病弱な 物陰／風下. "Evil Spillet he likee Chinee; try talkee him."

The 著作権侵害者s looked at 病弱な 物陰／風下, not without a 確かな envy of this manifest えこひいき. A fearful 願望（する） to continue their awful 実験s, instead of 追求するing their piratical avocations, was taking 所有／入手 of them; but Polly, with one of the swift 移行s of childhood, すぐに began to extemporize a house for the party at the mouth of the tunnel, and, with parental foresight, gathered the fragments of the squibs to build a 解雇する／砲火／射撃 for supper. That frugal meal, consisting of half a ginger 薄焼きパン／素焼陶器 divided into five small 部分s, each served on a 半導体素子 of 支持を得ようと努めるd, and having a deliciously mysterious flavor of gunpowder and smoke, was soon over. It was necessary after this that the 著作権侵害者s should at once 捜し出す repose after a day of adventure, which they did for the space of forty seconds in singularly impossible 態度s and far too 積極的な snoring. Indeed, Master Hickory's almost upright 提起する／ポーズをとる, with tightly 倍のd 武器 and darkly frowning brows, was felt to be 劇の, but impossible for a longer period. The 簡潔な／要約する interval enabled Polly to collect herself and to look around her in her usual motherly fashion. Suddenly she started and uttered a cry. In the excitement of the 降下／家系 she had やめる overlooked her doll, and was now regarding it with 一連の会議、交渉／完成する-注目する，もくろむd horror.

"Lady Mary's hair's gone!" she cried, convulsively しっかり掴むing the 著作権侵害者 Hickory's 脚s.

Hickory at once 認めるd the 乱打するd doll under the aristocratic 肩書を与える which Polly had long ago bestowed upon it. He 星／主役にするd at the bald and 乱打するd 長，率いる.

"Ha! ha!" he said hoarsely; "skelped by Injins!"

For an instant the delicious suggestion soothed the imaginative Polly. But it was quickly dispelled by 病弱な 物陰／風下.

"Lady Maley's pigtail hangee 最高の，を越す 味方する hillee. Catchee on big quartz 石／投石する allee same Polly; me go fetchee."

"No!" quickly shrieked the others. The prospect of 存在 left in the proximity of 病弱な 物陰／風下's evil spirit, without 病弱な 物陰／風下's exorcising 力／強力にする, was anything but 安心させるing. "No, don't go!" Even Polly (dropping a maternal 涙／ほころび on the bald 長，率いる of Lady Mary) 抗議するd against this breaking up of the little circle. "Go to bed!" she said authoritatively, "and sleep till morning."

Thus admonished, the 著作権侵害者s again retired. This time 効果的に; for, worn by actual 疲労，（軍の）雑役 or soothed by the delicious coolness of the 洞穴, they 徐々に, one by one, succumbed to real slumber. Polly, withheld from joining them by 公式の／役人 and maternal 責任／義務, sat and blinked at them affectionately.

徐々に she, too, felt herself 産する／生じるing to the fascination and mystery of the place and the 孤独 that encompassed her. Beyond the pleasant 影をつくる／尾行するs where she sat, she saw the 広大な／多数の／重要な world of mountain and valley through a dreamy 煙霧 that seemed to rise from the depths below and occasionally hang before the cavern like a 隠す. Long waves of spicy heat rolling up the mountain from the valley brought her the smell of pine-trees and bay, and made the landscape swim before her 注目する，もくろむs. She could hear the far-off cry of teamsters on some unseen road; she could see the far-off cloud of dust に引き続いて the mountain stagecoach, whose 動揺させるing wheels she could not hear. She felt very lonely, but was not やめる afraid; she felt very melancholy, but was not 完全に sad; and she could have easily awakened her sleeping companions if she wished.

No; she was a 孤独な 未亡人 with nine children, six of whom were already in the 孤独な churchyard on the hill, and the others lying ill with measles and scarlet fever beside her. She had just walked many 疲れた／うんざりした miles that day, and had often begged from door to door for a slice of bread for the 餓死するing little ones. It was of no use now—they would die! They would never see their dear mother again. This was a favorite imaginative 状況／情勢 of Polly's, but only indulged when her companions were asleep, partly because she could not 信用 confederates with her more serious fancies, and partly because they were at such times passive in her 手渡すs. She ちらりと見ることd timidly around. 満足させるd that no one could 観察する her, she softly visited the 病人の枕元 of each of her companions, and 治めるd from a 純粋に fictitious 瓶／封じ込める spoonfuls of invisible 薬／医学. Physical 是正 in the form of slight taps, which they always 要求するd, and in which Polly was strong, was only withheld now from a sense of their weak 条件. But in vain; they succumbed to the fell 病気,—they always died at this juncture,—and Polly was left alone. She thought of the little church where she had once seen a funeral, and remembered the nice smell of the flowers; she dwelt with melancholy satisfaction of the nine little tombstones in the graveyard, each with an inscription, and looked 今後 with gentle 予期 to the long summer days when, with Lady Mary in her （競技場の）トラック一周, she would sit on those 墓／厳粛／彫る／重大なs 覆う？ in the deepest 嘆く／悼むing. The fact that the unhappy 犠牲者s at times moved as it were uneasily in their 墓／厳粛／彫る／重大なs, or snored, did not 影響する／感情 Polly's imaginative contemplation, nor 保留する the 涙／ほころびs that gathered in her 一連の会議、交渉／完成する 注目する，もくろむs.

Presently, the lids of the 一連の会議、交渉／完成する 注目する，もくろむs began to droop, the landscape beyond began to be more 混乱させるd, and いつかs to disappear 完全に and 再現する again with startling distinctness. Then a sound of rippling water from the little stream that flowed from the mouth of the tunnel soothed her and seemed to carry her away with it, and then everything was dark.

The next thing that she remembered was that she was 明らかに 存在 carried along on some gliding 反対する to the sound of rippling water. She was not alone, for her three companions were lying beside her, rather tightly packed and squeezed in the same mysterious 乗り物. Even in the 深遠な 不明瞭 that surrounded her, Polly could feel and hear that they were …を伴ってd, and once or twice a faint streak of light from the 味方する of the tunnel showed her gigantic 影をつくる／尾行するs walking slowly on either 味方する of the gliding car. She felt the little 手渡すs of her associates 捜し出すing hers, and knew they were awake and conscious, and she returned to each a 安心させるing 圧力 from the large 保護するing instinct of her maternal little heart. Presently the car glided into an open space of 有望な light, and stopped. The 移行 from the 不明瞭 of the tunnel at first dazzled their 注目する，もくろむs. It was like a dream.

They were in a circular cavern from which three other tunnels, like the one they had passed through, diverged. The 塀で囲むs, lit up by fifty or sixty candles stuck at 不規律な intervals in crevices of the 激しく揺する, were of glittering quartz and mica. But more remarkable than all were the inmates of the cavern, who were 範囲d 一連の会議、交渉／完成する the 塀で囲むs,—men who, like their attendants, seemed to be of extra stature; who had blackened 直面するs, wore red bandana handkerchiefs 一連の会議、交渉／完成する their 長，率いるs and their waists, and carried enormous knives and ピストルs stuck in their belts. On a raised 壇・綱領・公約 made of a packing-box on which was rudely painted a skull and cross-bones, sat the 長，指導者 or leader of the 禁止（する）d covered with a buffalo 式服; on either 味方する of him were two small バーレル／樽s 示すd "Grog" and "Gunpowder." The children 星／主役にするd and clung closer to Polly. Yet, in spite of these desperate and warlike 従犯者s, the strangers bore a singular resemblance to "Christy Minstrels" in their blackened 直面するs and 態度s that somehow made them seem いっそう少なく awful. In particular, Polly was impressed with the fact that even the most ferocious had a 確かな kindliness of 注目する，もくろむ, and showed their teeth almost idiotically.

"Welcome!" said the leader,—"welcome to the 著作権侵害者s' 洞穴! The Red Rover of the North Fork of the Stanislaus River salutes the Queen of the 著作権侵害者 小島!" He rose up and made an 驚くべき／特命の／臨時の 屈服する. It was repeated by the others with more or いっそう少なく exaggeration, to the point of one humorist losing his balance!

"Oh, thank you very much," said Polly timidly, but 製図／抽選 her little flock closer to her with a small 保護するing arm; "but could you—would you—please—tell us—what time it is?"

"We are approaching the middle of Next Week," said the leader 厳粛に; "but what of that? Time is made for slaves! The Red Rover 捜し出すs it not! Why should the Queen?"

"I think we must be going," hesitated Polly, yet by no means displeased with the 承認 of her 階級.

"Not until we have paid homage to Your Majesty," returned the leader. "What 売春婦! there! Let Brother Step-and-Fetch-It pass the Queen around that we may do her 栄誉（を受ける）." 観察するing that Polly shrank わずかに 支援する, he 追加するd: "恐れる nothing; the man who 傷つけるs a hair of Her Majesty's 長，率いる dies by this 手渡す. Ah! ha!"

The others all said ha! ha! and danced alternately on one 脚 and then on the other, but always with the same dark resemblance to Christy Minstrels. Brother Step-and-Fetch-It, whose very long 耐えるd had a 混乱させるing suggestion of 存在 a part of the leader's buffalo 式服, 解除するd her gently in his 武器 and carried her to the Red Rovers in turn. Each one bestowed a kiss upon her cheek or forehead, and would have taken her in his 武器, or on his 膝s, or さもなければ ぐずぐず残るd over his salute, but they were 厳しく 抑制するd by their leader. When the solemn 儀式 was 結論するd, Step-and-Fetch-It paid his own 儀礼 with an extra squeeze of the curly 長，率いる, and deposited her again in the トラックで運ぶ, a little 脅すd, a little astonished, but with a かなりの 即位 to her dignity. Hickory and Patsey looked on with stupefied amazement. 病弱な 物陰／風下 alone remained stolid and unimpressed, regarding the scene with 静める and triangular 注目する，もくろむs.

"Will Your Majesty see the Red Rovers dance?"

"No, if you please," said Polly, with gentle 真面目さ.

"Will Your Majesty 解雇する／砲火／射撃 this バーレル／樽 of gunpowder, or tap this breaker of grog?"

"No, I thank you."

"Is there no 命令（する） Your Majesty would lay upon us?"

"No, please," said Polly, in a failing 発言する／表明する.

"Is there anything Your Majesty has lost? Think again! Will Your Majesty deign to cast your 王室の 注目する，もくろむs on this?"

He drew from under his buffalo 式服 what seemed like a long tress of blond hair, and held it aloft. Polly 即時に 認めるd the 行方不明の scalp of her hapless doll.

"If you please, sir, it's Lady Mary's. She's lost it."

"And lost it—Your Majesty—only to find something more precious. Would Your Majesty hear the story?"

A little alarmed, a little curious, a little self-anxious, and a little induced by the 軽く押す／注意を引くs and pinches of her companions, the Queen blushingly 示す her 王室の assent.

"Enough. Bring refreshments. Will Your Majesty prefer wintergreen, peppermint, rose, or acidulated 減少（する）s? Red or white? Or perhaps Your Majesty will let me recommend these bull's-注目する，もくろむs," said the leader, as a collection of 甘いs in a hat were suddenly produced from the バーレル／樽 labeled "Gunpowder" and 手渡すd to the children.

"Listen," he continued, in a silence broken only by the gentle sucking of bull's-注目する，もくろむs. "Many years ago the old Red Rovers of these parts locked up all their treasures in a secret cavern in this mountain. They used （一定の）期間s and 魔法 to keep it from 存在 entered or 設立する by anybody, for there was a 確かな 示す upon it made by a peculiar 激しく揺する that stuck out of it, which 示す what there was below. Long afterwards, other Red Rovers who had heard of it （機の）カム here and spent days and days trying to discover it, digging 穴を開けるs and 爆破ing tunnels like this, but of no use! いつかs they thought they discovered the 魔法 示すs in the peculiar 激しく揺する that stuck out of it, but when they dug there they 設立する no treasure. And why? Because there was a 魔法 （一定の）期間 upon it. And what was that 魔法 （一定の）期間? Why, this! It could only be discovered by a person who could not かもしれない know that he or she had discovered it; who never could or would be able to enjoy it; who could never see it, never feel it, never, in fact, know anything at all about it! It wasn't a dead man, it wasn't an animal, it wasn't a baby!"

"Why," said Polly, jumping up and clapping her 手渡すs, "it was a Dolly."

"Your Majesty's 長，率いる is level! Your Majesty has guessed it!" said the leader, 厳粛に. "It was Your Majesty's own dolly, Lady Mary, who broke the （一定の）期間! When Your Majesty （機の）カム 負かす／撃墜する the slide, the doll fell from your gracious 手渡す when your foot slipped. Your Majesty 回復するd Lady Mary, but did not 観察する that her hair had caught in a peculiar 激しく揺する, called the 'Outcrop,' and remained behind! When, later on, while sitting with your attendants at the mouth of the tunnel, Your Majesty discovered that Lady Mary's hair was gone, I overheard Your Majesty, and 派遣（する）d the trusty Step- and-Fetch-It to 捜し出す it at the mountain 味方する. He did so, and 設立する it 粘着するing to the 激しく揺する, and beneath it—the 入り口 to the Secret 洞穴!"

Patsey and Hickory, who, failing to understand a word of this explanation, had given themselves up to the unconstrained enjoyment of the 甘いs, began now to apprehend that some change was 差し迫った, and 用意が出来ている for the worst by あわてて swallowing what they had in their mouths, thus 反抗するing enchantment, and getting ready for speech. Polly, who had closely followed the story, albeit with the embellishments of her own imagination, made her 注目する，もくろむs rounder than ever. A bland smile broke on 病弱な 物陰／風下's 直面する, as to the children's amazement, he 静かに 解放する／撤去させるd himself from the group and stepped before the leader.

"Melican man plenty foolee Melican chillern. No foolee 中国 boy! 中国 boy knowee you. YOU no Led Lofer. YOU no Pilat—you allee same tunnel-man—you （頭が）ひょいと動く Johnson! Me shabbee you! You dressee up allee same as Led Lofer—but you （頭が）ひょいと動く Johnson—allee same. My fader washee washee for you. You no payee him. You 借りがある him folty dolla! Me blingee you billee. You no payee billee! You say, 'Chalkee up, John.' You say, 'Bimeby, John.' But me no catchee folty dolla!"

A roar of laughter followed, in which even the leader 明らかに forgot himself enough to join. But the next moment springing to his feet he shouted, "売春婦! 売春婦! A 反逆者! Away with him to the deepest dungeon beneath the 城 moat!"

Hickory and Patsey began to whimper, but Polly, albeit with a tremulous lip, stepped to the 味方する of her little Pagan friend. "Don't you dare touch him," she said with a shake of 予期しない 決意 in her little curly 長，率いる; "if you do, I'll tell my father, and he will 殺す you! All of you—there!"

"Your father! Then you are NOT the Queen!"

It was a sore struggle to Polly to abdicate her 王室の position; it was harder to do it with befitting dignity. To 避ける the direct question she was 強いるd to abandon her 反抗的な 態度. "If you please, sir," she said hurriedly, with an 増加するing color and no stops, "we're not always 著作権侵害者s, you know, and 病弱な 物陰／風下 is only our boy what 小衝突s my shoes in the morning, and runs of errands, and he doesn't mean anything bad, sir, and we'd like to take him 支援する home with us."

"Enough," said the leader, changing his entire manner with the most sudden and shameless inconsistency. "You shall go 支援する together, and woe betide the miscreant who would 妨げる it! What say you, brothers? What shall be his 運命／宿命 who dares to separate our noble Queen from her faithful Chinese henchman?"

"He shall die!" roared the others, with beaming cheerfulness.

"And what say you—shall we see them home?"

"We will!" roared the others.

Before the children could 公正に／かなり comprehend what had passed, they were again 解除するd into the トラックで運ぶ and began to glide 支援する into the tunnel they had just quitted. But not again in 不明瞭 and silence; the entire 禁止（する）d of Red rovers …を伴ってd them, illuminating the dark passage with the candles they had snatched from the 塀で囲むs. In a few moments they were at the 入り口 again. The 広大な／多数の／重要な world lay beyond them once more with 激しく揺するs and valleys suffused by the rosy light of the setting sun. The past seemed like a dream.

But were they really awake now? They could not tell. They 受託するd everything with the 信用／信任 and credulity of all children who have no experience to compare with their first impressions and to whom the 未来 含む／封じ込めるs nothing impossible. It was without surprise, therefore, that they felt themselves 解除するd on the shoulders of the men who were making やめる a 行列 along the 法外な 追跡する に向かって the 解決／入植地 again. Polly noticed that at the mouth of the other tunnels they were 迎える／歓迎するd by men as if they were carrying tidings of 広大な／多数の／重要な joy; that they stopped to rejoice together, and that in some mysterious manner their conductors had got their 直面するs washed, and had become more like 存在s of the outer world. When they 近づくd the 解決／入植地 the excitement seemed to have become greater; people 急ぐd out to shake 手渡すs with the men who were carrying them, and overpowered even the children with questions they could not understand. Only one 宣告，判決 Polly could 明確に remember as 存在 the 重荷（を負わせる） of all congratulations. "Struck the old lead at last!" With a faint consciousness that she knew something about it, she tried to assume a dignified 態度 on the leader's shoulders, even while she was beginning to be 激しい with sleep.

And then she remembered a （人が）群がる 近づく her father's house, out of which her father （機の）カム smiling pleasantly on her, but not 干渉するing with her triumphal 進歩 until the leader finally deposited her in her mother's （競技場の）トラック一周 in their own sitting-room. And then she remembered 存在 "cross," and 拒絶する／低下するing to answer any questions, and すぐに afterwards 設立する herself comfortably in bed. Then she heard her mother say to her father:—

"It really seems too ridiculous for anything, John; the idea of those grown men dressing themselves up to play with children."

"Ridiculous or not," said her father, "these grown men of the Excelsior 地雷 have just struck the famous old lode of Red Mountain, which is as good as a fortune to everybody on the 山の尾根, and were as wild as boys! And they say it never would have been 設立する if Polly hadn't 宙返り／暴落するd over the slide 直接／まっすぐに on 最高の，を越す of the outcrop, and left the absurd wig of that wretched doll of hers to 示す its 場所／位置."

"And that," murmured Polly sleepily to her doll as she drew it closer to her breast, "is all that they know of it."

THE END

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